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Saturday, June 02, 2012

BBQ Brisket Technique

Apologies to cat lovers, but just like that old saying "there's more than one way to skin a cat", there are several ways to cook a brisket.

Hot and fast

Low and slow

Fat side down

Fat side up

With foil

Without foil

Baste

No-baste

With injection

Without injection

I've experimented with all the techniques through the years, but during a Saturday afternoon practice cook using my Weber Smokey Mountain several years ago I stumbled on a hybrid method that combines the best of all those options.

1. Start the brisket fat side up and cook for 3 hours
2. Spritz with apple juice every 90 minutes to promote bark formation (I prefer Martinelli's)
3. Flip the brisket to fat side down and cook for 2 hours
4. Wrap in foil when brisket reaches 165 degrees (or after 5 hours)
5. Cook brisket to 194 degrees measured in the middle of the flat
6. Allow brisket to "rest" inside an Igloo cooler wrapped in towels for at least 2 hours (4 hours is even better)
7. Slice brisket with an electric knife (I use a Black and Decker)
8. Lightly sauce each brisket slice with Blues Hog BBQ Sauce before serving
9. Vacuum seal the "extra" brisket slices and freeze to eat later when you get the craving

15 lb packer brisket fat side up

15 lb packer brisket fat side down

This technique works very well on my old Weber Smokey Mountain. It's won several dollars in bbq contests and it's won the hearts of family, neighbors, and co-workers for the past 10 years. This exact technique might not work the same way on an offset smoker, Big Green Egg, pellet smoker, etc. but perhaps through my trial and error experimentation you will find a golden nugget you like to assist with your brisket cooking results.
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10 comments:

I have been smoking chicken, pork, and ribs for the last 4 years. I think this is the year I graduate to beef brisket. This method is similar to the way I like to smoke my pork butts. Do you have any pictures of your finished sliced brisket?

I have several pictures on the blog. If you go to the search box and type in brisket, several will come up. Here's a link to one of my best pictures: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--BaEGVLJW9g/SpSTHNDsvFI/AAAAAAAAA5k/38G5Xjektzg/s1600/Jungle+Gardens+383.JPG

You will find many fine brisket pictures on The Hog Blog. Here's a link to one of his brisket posts: http://thehogblog.com/?p=2186

It sure does pay to shop around. A few weeks ago I needed a brisket on short notice and ended up paying $80 for one (14 lbs) and besides that ridiculous price, it was likely a "second". I've found a new source for USDA select graded briskets and the results were much, much better. But even better than that...I got the better brisket for $50 (15 lbs).

Great post! Do you keep the same cooking temp throughout the cook? I'm a novice brisket smoker, but brisket seems much more sensitive to harder cooking than a pork shoulder or ribs. Just wondering what temp you use. Thanks!

The price of brisket is outrageous, it wasn't long ago when it was one of the cheapest cuts of meat your money could buy. I guess it is a case of supply and demand. I remember buying nice brisket for a dollar a pound and only about ten or twelve years ago. Hey, Come on over and check out my latest post. (Something I made for my granddaughter) I'm a little bit proud of it. Steve :)

I smoke my brisket with my rub about 6 hours until it his 160 degrees. I put it in an aluminum pan with 1/2 inch of water. Keep of cooking until internal temp hits 195. Remove brisket and refrigerate overnight or until cool. and keep and cool the liquid in the pan which is a nice au jus once cool skim the fat from the aujus. I slice the brisket on a meat slicer and layer in an aluminum pan add the au jus cover and heat back to min 165. The brisket turns our tender moist and great!

About Me

Brian Pearcy competed in bbq contests sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society and Florida Barbecue Association. He has published more than 940 articles about bbq cooking. Brian authors two bbq web sites: The BBQ Guy and BBQ Blog. His prize winning bbq spice rubs have earned numerous awards.

This post originally appeared last year, but I thought it was time to bring it back to the "top of the blog". I'm ho...

BBQ Tips

How to keep BBQ hot if you're not quite ready to eat it...

use an ice chest/ice cooler. Put some hot water in an empty ice chest, close the lid and let it set for 3 or 4 minutes. Drain the hot water and you've got yourself a portable BBQ warmer. We've kept pork butts warm this way for 6 or 7 hours.

How to keep your hands clean when cooking BBQ...

use powder free latex gloves. They come in packs of 100 at the local Sam's and will keep your hands clean. You'll maintain good sanitary practices too.

How to keep your spouse interested in the BBQ hobby...

get him/her involved in it with you. It's a lot of fun. You meet nice people and it's something you can do together.

How to keep your BBQ expenses in line with your budget...

Research all your purchases thoroughly. Make sure your purchase will do what you want it to do BEFORE you purchase it. For example, if you want to learn to cook whole hogs, you probably need to consider a big cooker or if you want to cook 10-15 racks spare ribs every weekend you're going to need something bigger than a WSM.

How to continually improve your BBQ recipes...

keep records of your cooking efforts including cook times, prepping techniques used and especially measurements for sauces or rubs and spices used. When you tweak the recipe for taste, only change one thing at a time--change the cook time, change the rub, change the sauce, but try to avoid completely changing everything all at once. Small changes to your technique and recipes will help you focus on the effects better and you'll be able to fine tune the product quality more efficiently.

How to BBQ Brisket

Brisket has become one of my favorite foods to barbecue. A pencil width slice of properly cooked brisket lightly coated with some Blues Hog BBQ Sauce is hard to beat.

I prefer to cook briskets in my Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM). I receive quite a few e-mails asking for help with barbecue brisket and thought I'd share some questions I received today.

Do you cook brisket with direct or indirect heat?

I use indirect heat and cook the brisket slowly at a temperature of 225-250 degrees.

Do you cook with fat cap up or fat cap down?

I begin cooking the brisket fat cap up for the first cooking segment. I don't flip until the brisket reaches 130 degrees or so. That's the point when the bark starts to harden a little bit. Then I flip it to fat side down. I used to skip this part but wanted a little more bark and found that this method will promote more bark formation.

Do you use foil?

I wrap in foil when the internal brisket temp is 165 degrees or if it's been cooking for at least 5 hours. Most of my briskets are completely done in 8 hours or so. I cook to an internal temp of 196-198 degrees and hold them in an Igloo cooler for a few hours to "rest" before slicing.

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